A consultant’s report says a wall of shipping containers at a Moncton scrapyard has reduced noise levels at nearby homes, but a resident in the area questions that assessment.
The wall, installed last year along a part of American Iron and Metal’s Toombs Street site, was required by the provincial government. Residents had voiced complaints about loud noises, vibrations, and smells from the site.
The Department of Environment and Local Government extended the company’s approval to March 31, 2025, with a condition that it assess the effectiveness of the sound barrier.
The assessment was carried out HGC Noise Vibration Acoustics for American Iron and Metal, or AIM, according to the firm’s five-page report, which was obtained by Radio-Canada.
“The results of the survey indicate that the noise barriers have been successfully implemented, and that the sound emissions of the facility are within the criterion of the [department] at the neighbouring points of reception,” the report states.
A wall of shipping containers is reducing the noise that reaches homes near the American Iron and Metal scrapyard in Moncton, a consultant’s report says.
But a resident says the nuisance continues and questions whether one day of testing is sufficient.
“Sometimes it’s in the morning,” Jean Cormier said to Radio-Canada about the noise.
“Sometimes it’s in the afternoon. Sometimes it’s all day. I don’t know what they’re doing, but you hear big boom-booms.”
Gilles LePage, the province’s environment minister, said in an interview Thursday the report is being reviewed.
“The study arrived to us last week, so we are still looking at that, namely how the measures were taken and what impact it will have now with the company,” LePage said.
The report says an acoustic survey was conducted Jan. 16 during cloudy weather and compared to results from June 2024 before the wall was installed.
Sound levels were monitored at three locations in the adjacent neighbourhood south and west of the AIM site.
The report says noise emissions from industrial operations are not formally regulated. The consultant used a noise complaint guideline to assess the site last year.
The June assessment found consistent sound levels from the site were within the province’s acceptable levels, the report says, but that short-duration events, called impulse noise, from loading rail cars or shearing scrap metal was audible offsite.
‘Reduced by a significant margin’
The report says the province’s guidelines do not directly address impulse noise, saying it instead regulates average noise levels.
The province’s guidelines use a target of 60 decibels for daytime hours when assessing noise complaints. The company that carried out the assessment, HGC, used that as a target for its assessment of impulse noise.
Results from June ranged between 62 and 72 decibels at the three locations near homes, according to the report. After the wall went up, the results ranged from 47 to 59 decibels, under the province’s guideline level.
The report concludes that with the wall, “impulsive sound levels … have been reduced by a significant margin,” and are within levels set by the province.
LePage wondered if the noise level allowed for industry should be reviewed.
“We are still analyzing whether this is really the threshold we should have in an environment like this,” the minister said in French.
“Is this the threshold we want to keep in the province and is this the threshold that municipalities want to keep?”
Alexandre Cédric Doucet, Liberal MLA for Moncton East, told Radio-Canada that he, like residents in the area, want AIM’s operation relocated farther away from homes.
LePage said the province hopes to meet with officials from the City of Moncton to discuss what residents are experiencing and find “long-term solutions for this situation.”
The minister said he hopes that happens in the coming weeks.
American Iron and metal and a lawyer who has represented the company did not respond to a request for comment. The company previously said it would hold an open house at the site once it received the results.
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